CH 112

Duan Feng squatted in the middle of the cell, holding something in his hand, scratching the ground.

After  the two prison guards opened the cell door, Zheng Shaofeng walked in. He was just about to speak, but Duan Feng shouted angrily before him, "Don't step on me!"

Zheng Shaofeng: "..." What the f*cking h*ll? They were at least three meters away apart. How long did he think his legs were?

The two prison guards said angrily outside, "Be quiet! Know your place!" They were about to storm in.

Zheng Shaofeng stopped them. He found that there were many markings under his feet, which were obviously made by Duan Feng. Zheng Shaofeng adjusted his body, carefully identifying them. He quickly realized that these were words. The strokes were very rough at the beginning, but became more and more proficient later.

Dog. Sh*t. Dog. Sh*t. Dog. Sh*t...

Very good. All he wrote was ‘dog sh*t.’ This bandit leader wrote dog sh*t all over the cell, obviously expressing his contempt for the government.

Zheng Shaofeng admired him a little. This rascal was quite brave. He didn't make things difficult for Duan Feng either as he just asked someone to put him in the shackles and take him out.

As soon as Duan Feng entered the interrogation room, he never took his eyes off Tan Lingyin.

Tang Tianyuan was not happy with this. He had Tan Lingyin do her recording next to the door. This way, when Duan Feng knelt down, his back was facing her.

Zheng Shaofeng sat beside Tang Tianyuan and said with a smile, "Ha. I stepped on dog sh*t just now."

"Then there must be a dog." Tang Tianyuan didn't believe it. Zheng Shaofeng liked to joke, so Tang Tianyuan was used to him talking nonsense.

Zheng Shaofeng didn’t care to explain trivial matters, so he pointed to Duan Feng and said, "Let the trial begin. Make it quick, there are so many more to come."

Tang Tianyuan informed Duan Feng the principle of ‘lenient when honest and strict when resisting’, and then asked him about the robberies Phoenix Mountain Camp had committed.

Duan Feng's memory was particularly good. As long as Tang Tianyuan asked him about a particular robbery, Duan Feng could answer when, where, what, and how much they had stolen. It was very consistent with the case records.

Tang Tianyuan then asked, "Then why did you go up to Phoenix Mountain and become a bandit? And how did you gather the other bandits?"

Duan Feng became silent.

"Since you do not want to say it, this official will do it for you. The Former County Magistrate San Jie wanted to illegally mine gold, but needed to find manual laborers. Since the Former County Magistrate couldn’t openly recruit, let alone force the ordinary people, he went to various places to kidnap refugees and beggars. You were all kidnapped, am I right?"

Duan Feng looked at him in surprise.

Tang Tianyuan continued, "Sang Jie forced you to work for him. After all the gold was mined, San Jie wanted to kill everyone to silence all of the witnesses. Unexpectedly, you all found out and escaped from Tianmu Mountain and hid in Phoenix Mountain. Because the person who did this was the head of the county government, so you dare not to make a report. You dare not go out of Phoenix Mountain, so all of you can only make a living by robbing passers-by."

Duan Feng's eyes were red and he didn't say a word.

"The reason why you went all the way to rob Official Sun's farm was because you know that Official Sun was also one of the masterminds involved in the gold smuggling. Old Tie was a handyman from Sun's Mansion. Later, he was ordered by Official Sun to deliver items to Tianmu Mountain, and then also narrowly avoided disaster. Since then, he could only abandon his old identity to also become a bandit with you. Old Tie is quite familiar with the situation in the farm, so little effort was spent when robbing Official Sun’s grains; and the robbery went smoothly. Am I correct?"

Duan Feng nodded.

Tang Tianyuan asked some more details about the stolen gold before finally sighing, "Do you know where you guys went wrong?"

Duan Feng followed good manners, "We should have stolen anything."

"No," Tang Tianyuan shook his head and said, "You became bandits because you were forced into a dead end and had to steal as a means to survival. The root of these mistakes do not stem from you. But the one thing you should have never done was to kidnap girls from innocent families!" Tang Tianyuan slammed the table hard, "Speak! How many women have you robbed and forced to death?!"

Duan Feng trembled. "Just one... plus her, two." As he spoke, Duan Feng turned his head and glanced at Tan Lingyin. Unfortunately, she was busy writing and did not look at him.

After interrogating Duan Feng, Tang Tianyuan interrogated a few more people. He didn't hide anything from Zheng Shaofeng, so Zheng Shaofeng understood what Tang Tianyuan was up to.

They worked throughout the night, and some of the early roosters were already crowing.

After Tan Lingyin sorted out the records, she stood up and patted her sore legs.

Tang Tianyuan sent more people to guard the cells. He also had people to inform the prisoners that someone might try to assassinate them. Tang Tianyuan wanted them to be more vigilant, not to sleep too deeply, and to call out if anything were to happen.

In fact, as long as Tang Tianyuan revealed the news that he had already successfully interrogated and gotten all the necessary information, then the prisoners wouldn’t have to live in caution. If the other party knew that Tang Tianyuan had gathered enough evidence, then there was no point in killing to silence.

Tan Lingyin followed Tang Tianyuan out, her mood downcast.

Tang Tianyuan helped her tighten her rabbit fur scarf and asked, "Tired?"

"No," Tan Lingyin shook her head and looked at Tang Tianyuan, "Is he going to die?"

According to Qi Dynasty’s laws, because Duan Feng committed the crime of rape, he was punishable to death by being hanged. She... how should she put it? Her mood was complicated, she couldn’t accept it. She felt that this person was not evil enough to die.

Tang Tianyuan held her hand and said, "No matter what kind of environment a person is in, he should have a bottom line. He was harmed by another, but this cannot be an excuse for him to harm others."

Tan Lingyin nodded.

Tang Tianyuan led her by the hand. "Let's go, we’re going to my place today."

"Ah? No, no, no! I– I..." Tan Lingyin stood still.

"There are many guest rooms in my courtyard."

So Tan Lingyin followed him back.

Zheng Shaofeng watched them from behind as they left holding hands. He felt so desolate and lonely.